According to a new DigiTimes report, Apple is evaluating the feasibility of using IGZO displays across their iPad, iPad mini and iPhone products in 2013.

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The sources said Apple is in further discussions with Sharp over IGZO panel production capacity estimates for 2013 and is also inquiring about whether AU Optronics' (AUO) L5C line could be used to produce the technology.

We've heard rumors about Sharp's IGZO displays over the past year, but no Apple products yet seem to use the new technology. There had been talk of production delays that may have prevented Apple from pursuing the technology.

Qualcomm recently invested in Sharp to push forward the technology. Sharp is reportedly betting on IGZO to save the company, which is in dire financial straits.

IGZO has been touted as having many benefits over existing technology. PCWorld notes lower power consumption, improved touch sensitivity and increased pixel density among these benefits.

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This difference in current flow inside the screen also means that transistors don't have to be continually refreshed when a still image is on the screen. That leads to lower power consumption and, for touch panels, much less interference from the screen's electronics so the touch panel becomes more accurate and sensitive, said Nobuhiro Okan, a manager with Sharp's display device group.

The glass edge of each display can also be made slimmer, allowing for smaller devices.

Obviously, those improvements would be highly desired for Apple to advance their products. The iPad, in particular, actually found itself both thicker and heavier in the 3rd Generation model in order to accommodate the battery for the power-hungry Retina display. Display power consumption and thickness were also likely factors that prevented the iPad mini from adopting a Retina display in its first generation. Rumors have already suggested that the 2013 5th Generation iPad could be slightly thinner and smaller than the current models.

Sounds good and thinner glass will probably be lighter but I hope Apple stops trying to make things thinner just for the sake of thin or for bragging rights. At some point it becomes counter productive.

Sounds good and thinner glass will probably be lighter but I hope Apple stops trying to make things thinner just for the sake of thin or for bragging rights. At some point it becomes counter productive.

I agree with phones. I never want a phone to be so thin that I fear it will snap in half in my pocket.

I agree mrsir, they will go thinner instead of working on battery life. My ipod touch 4g is a good example of that its thin but battery life is abysmal for a "gaming" device. My ipad 3 is much better, but they had to pork it up to get it.

What is with this trend of referring to displays by a secondary component? "LED TV" made some sense since other display technologies don't use a backlight, but IGZO transistors can be used in both LCDs and OLEDs.

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Looks like Apple will have to go back to Samsung..........Samsung is the only one who can supply enough quality panels at this point with a rapid shift in production. I also bet that Samsung already has pre-production displays with IGZO transistors in them already.

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Originally Posted by drblank

Sharp has had press releases on IGZO, but I think it officially starts shipping next year.

Same resolution as current iPad. It'd end up cannibalizing its own newer iPad if they did that, so I don't think this will be happening for iPad-mini at least, probably for iPad though, sure.

... But they have done this cannibalization a bit with the Macbook Pro vs Macbook Pro with Retina Display. Over there exists a significant price gap too, so I don't think it'd be a really similar example.

$329 for iPad-mini will be less than $499 and you get a lighter, thinner, more portable than current iPad product with same battery, power and OBVIOUSLY a better resolution? Unlikely, because pixel density of iPad-mini would have to be higher than that of the larger iPad. I would then only buy iPad-mini, not the larger iPad. The non-mini iPad would have to be even better than it is now to demand a market share.